Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



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Wham

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A the breech pin B*.

HIRAM BERDAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNR. TO THE BERDAN' Letters Patent No. 881,436, dated lila/rch 30, 1869.

nllPRQvIMENT IN BREBCH-LOADIN G- PIRE-ARMS.

u l l The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the name.

To all it may concewt:

Be' it'known that I, Humax BERDAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Firei Arms; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference .being had to the accompanying drawing, forming 'part Figure 5 is a transveise section of the breech-ree' ceiver and breech-piece in the plane indicated by the line z in iig. l.

Figure 6 is a side view corresponding with figs. 1 and 2. l i

Figure 7 is an inverted plan of the strap-piece, which connects the breech-block with the barrel.

Figures 8,9, 10, and 11, are detail views, which-will be hereinafter explained.

Similar' letters of reference indicate `correspending parts in the several figures.

One branch ot thls invention relates to the construc-y tion of and mode of fitting and attaching and locking a swinging breechfpiece, which is hinged above the barrel, and which opens by swinging upward over the topl thereof. Some features of this branch of the inven, tion are also made available in the application of the sight.

Another branch ot the invention relates to the construction of `and Inode of applying and operating the ejector, for throwing out the discharged cartridge-shells from the fire-arm.

To enableothersskilled inthe ait to make and use my invention. I will proceed to describe it, with reference .to the drawings.

,A is the barrel, the rear portion of which is counterbored suiiiciently larger than the regular bore, to admit the head ofthe cartridge-shell. The greater part of Vthis connterbored portion has a longitudinal opening in the top, extending also to the right-hand side,

as shown in tig.5, to make it form a receiver, A*, for

thebreech-piece B, and iuto'the rear end of it is screwed C is a strap-piece, by which the breech-block is hinged represented as ihrmed upon the said strap-piece, and

the-inner portion, 1'., uponthe breechLblock, as shown in tigs. l, 2, 5, and T. i

The breech-block is fitted into the receiver in such manner as to have a rear bearing against a recoil shoulder, a, the upper part of which is square, or nearly so,-v with the line of the bore ofthe barrel.

The strap-piece O has its under side grooved to iit,a.s shown in fig. 4, and slide quite freely n'pon the flanged spline c, which is firmly secured on thetop of the barrel in front of the receiver. This spline isrepresented atb b, in fig. l, as being fitted and soldered into a transverse' dovetail groove in the barrel, and further secured by a counter-sunk screw @which also serves the purpose of securing in place the rear end of the spring' catch e, by which the strap-piece is secured on'the spline. j

This 'spring-catch is formed of a strip of steel, and visinserted between the strap-piece and spline c, in a lgroovein the latter, and having its forward end bent upward, as shown in fig. 1, to enter an opening, g, shown in'figs. 1 and 7, and so prevents the strap-piece from being drawn off the spline, and the breech-block from being detached, without the necessity of screws screwing -into and weakening the barrel, and which might be lost, in detaching the breech-blockLin active service, while at the same time it admits ofthe instan` taneous drawing ofi` of the strap-piece from the spline,

-and detachmentof the breech-block at any time, on the depression of the forward end of the spring-catch.

This depression. may bc effected in various ways,l as by the pressure of the thumb or finger on a portion of the catch, which may protrude from under thegstrappiece', or by thev operation of the sight, as` will be hercinafter explained. i A l v `When the strap-piece is slipped on to the spline again,

the end of Ithe spring-catch enters the notch vgland se- .cures it. This facility for detachment and reattachment of the breech-block, provides for the cleaning of the breech-block and its appurtenances, and allows the breech-block -to be carried inithe pocket of the soldier on march, in wet weather or over dusty roads, and the ldetachment permits the 'gun to be disabled, by throwing away the breech-block when. capture is inevitable.

A portion of the spring of the catch vbears against the'strap piece, in such manner as lto produce friction upon it, for the purpose of preventing it from moving teo easily in the operation of th breech-piece.

In opening and closing the br ech-block, thestrappiece slides a short distance, say about one-twentieth part ofan inch, along the splineic.

. In opening, thel movement of the strap-piece takes place in a forward direction, to allow the rear end of the breech-block to clear .the recoilbearin'g'a, and in closing the breech-block, the movement is backward,

to allow the block to come close up to the recoil-bearin c.

ls the completion of the closing-operation, during which the strap-piece moves longitudinally backward, is being performed, th'e fulcrum on which the breechblock moves, is on one side of .the front of the breechreceiver,-= as shown at j in iig. 6, such fulcrum being p gran-ARMS MANU- Enero/RING COMPANY, on THE SAME PLAGE.

l of the said bearing.

formed b'y slightlyeutting away the portion of the re ceiver abovc. This' fulcrum is thus brought nearly'toa level with the centre of the bore, and, by its being brought so low, the breechpiece,'in closing, has a more direct backward movement given to its upper part, and:I is thereby caused to be brought back to a firmer bearing against the recoil-shoulder a.

Vhen the firing takes place, even though therewere no special'locking-device. applied to tl1e. breechp1ece, th'elatter would be prevented from risingl from the closed position shown in iig. 1, by reason-of the 'upper edge of the cartridge-shell pressing against the face of the breech-piece, and becoming to the breech-piece the .fulcrum of a lever, on which it must move, andthe red line It, drawn from this fulcrum in the above-mentioned l f1gure, tothe lower part of the recoil-bearing, is larger than the line l drawn from-the same fulcrum to the top It will be seen, therefore, that the breech-block is, in a5 measure, hooked under the recoil-bearing, and the greater the pressure of the cartridge-shell against it, the closer and tighter it is hooked, and th'e more effect ually is its upward movementl couuteracted.

After firing, the shrinkage, or forward movement of the cartridge-head, and forward movement of the strap' piece C, allow the breech-block to open in thel fulcruin j. It may be said that the breech-piece has, at di'er- A ent stages ofits operation, three dilierentfhlcra, viz, the pin m of the hinge, the pointj on the side of the breech- Vprovided in the barrel, for the reception of the'head of the cartridge-shell.I By this construction of the face ofthe breech-block, a boss is formed upon it, to en ter the counter-bore of the barrel, at much less expense, and

much better than such a boss could be formed by cut-A ting it out of the solid metal ofthe breechlpiece. y .lhis plug yF* is held in place by means of -a transl verse pin, ci', inserted through the breech-piece.

In the manufacture of the guns, plugs F", having heads u of diiferent thickness,varying about one hundredth of an inch, are kept 4on hand, and in what is called f assembling the parts of the gun, one with a thicker or thinner head -is selected, as may be required,

lto fill up the space between the front of the closed breech- .Y

block and ,thehead' of a'. steel cartridge-shell, which is inserted into the chamber of the barrel as a gauge, and

- by providing for this selection, the plug F?, serves as a means of adjustment ad compensation for such'variations in the depth of the counter-bore provided in the barrel for the lhanged head of the cartridge, and vin the distance of the recoil-shoulder from the. counter-bore, as may be unavoidable in the ma'mlfacture.r

The said .plug is also made to serve as a means-.of A preventing the tiring-pinG from slipping ,too-forwardthrough, or dropping out from .the breech-piece in v that I direction, by boring .out the rear portion of the said plug, as shown in iig.' 1, largerthan the holev through which 'the' point ofthe said pin protrndes to fire thecar'- tridge, thereby fortuin g a lShOuIderLv, wit-hinv the said v l plug, which serves as a stopto a shouldenv', formed on the iiring-pin. A, l

To provide for thefree escape under the breech-piece. of any gases which might, owing to a defective tridge, or otherwise,'leak into the breech-receiver at the' tnneofhrlng, and soitend'to blow out the breech-piece,

` there is provided, betweenthe breech-piece and one side 'of thereceive'i, an `opening,-w,.shown in figs. 5 and 6,

sans

` extending nearly the whole length of the breetuzh-piece,-`

such opening being so made, bya suitable construction of the breech-piece andvbre'echsreceiver, that 1t will remain open'when the breech-piece is closed, and that 1t .communicates with whatever space there may be between the bottom 'of the closed breech-piecevand the breech-receiver.

. reception ofA the spilalmain-springN, which is coiled around the said'bolt, or hammer. i

The bore of the breech-pin B* is, as shown in fig. 1, of uniform size ncarlythrough the entire length, but in the front pontion it is reduced in size, and in the rear portion it is made of larger size', to receive the collar P, which, with the smaller front portion of the bore, forms the guides to the centre-bolt, the front portion of which is made4 smaller than the rest of the bolt, to t the said smaller front portion of the said bore..-

The main-spring N has. its front end bearing against a pin,130, .which is inserted through the centre-bolt, and the rear end of the said spring has its bearing against the front of the cellar P, which is secured in place in the rear portion of the brcechspin B?, by the stationary transverse pin 31, which passes through the said collar and the breech-pin, and also through the longitudinal slot 32, in the centre-bolt, and so prevents the said bolt from turning. v The smaller front portion of the centre-,bolt is made long enough to\prot1 jude,some distance through the front offthe breech-pin, that it may, when the breechpiece B is closed, enter the hole 33, bored in the-rear end of theI breech-piece, for the purpose vof locking the latter. .The centre-bolt strikes upon a firing-pin, G`; which is inserted into a hole bored for its reception in the'I breech-piece B. Itis provided 'in its under side with a cooking-notch, 34, into which, when itis drawn back` by applying the thumb to the comb M", at its rear end, t

the sere S enters, .and it is alsoprovided, further back, with a safety-notch, 35. l The strap-pieceO, by which .the hinge' of ,the breechpiece is attached to thev barrel, serves also as the base of the sight, and the spring-catch e serves as the sightsprmg. I v v The ysight vQ,'iigs. 1 and 2, -is hinged, at 37, to the strap-piece O, in substantially the same manner as it usually is to the base-plate ordinarily employed for attachingit to thebarrel. v

The partof the hinge which is formed upon the frame of the sight is constructed .in the usual manner, shown in iig. 1, with two flat surfaces, 12 and 13, and this part of the hinge issituated, as shown 'in fig. 1, withinthe opening q, before mentioned as provided-in tle strap. piece, so that when the sight is down, as shown infig.- 1, aliat. portion of the springcatch c presses against the dat surface 13, and sov holds it down, andjyhen the sight is raised up tothe upright operative position, the same portion'of the said spring-catch presses against the dat surface 12, and holdsfit up, thus operating subspring commonly employed. V.

lThe angle formed between the two dat surfaces,.12 and 13, ofthe hingeof the sight, also serves as a cam stantially likeand serving the purpose of the sight-V` to depress'the forward endot' the spring-catch eout of the opening q, in the strapfpiecel C, and thus permit the strap-piece to slide backward olif'v the spline c, when it is desiredto detach the breech-piece from the gun,

the said angle or cam being madel so to operate by bringing the sight toaposition, in which itvinclines at y about fortyfiive degrees to the barrel.

A passage is provided Abetween the strap-piece and `'the barleh'tbr the escape of any gas that may get uuder presently described.

steel hub, with a radially-projecting spur, n, and workingwithin or between the leaves of pin m thereof.

The spur n works through a mortisev cut in the. rear the hinge on the part ofthe chamber.

' The ejector' D has applied Ito it, within a cavity, q,

figs. 1 and 7, in the underside of the strap-piece O, a springfE, of wire, the form of which is best shown in iig. 7, and one end of` which is pivoted into the strappiece C, and theother end enters a notch, 32, in the .edg'e' of thel ejector D.

This spring, whenl the breech-'block is closed, presses upon the ejector, above the axis of the pin m, in such 'manner as to holdup the 'spur ln, as shown in fig. 1, to such a .position that the lower and forward edge of the -said spur will be close to the front end of the flanged head of the cartridge-shell in the chamber ot' the gun.

The hub of thesaidejector is covered up and protected from wet and dirt by a hood-piece, 25, shown in /figs.3 and 8, lea onthe face of the adjacent cheek h of the hinge, b'y boring ont thesaid face.

'lhe margin vof the lower `part of the rim thus` left is cut away, for lthe passage ofthe spur n.

Y The sideof the ejector D next the parti of the hinge, has a nearly semicircular projection, 2S, igs. 9 and 10,

. which enters a cavity, 29, bored in the face of the adjacent side ofthe part i of the hinge, as'shown in tig. 11, and from the back of this cavity there projects a pin,`27, which acts upon' the projection, as will hevhile in the opening-movement of the breech-block, its face moves back far enough to leave plenty of room in front of it for a shell in the chamber to move back," the ejector remains stationary, its spur 'lz-being held against the forward end of the mortise provided for it in the chamber, by the pressure of the spring E, acting as just above described; but when the breech-piece has moved a suitable distanceto permit the backward movement ofthe shell without diiiiculty, the pin 27,` in the leaf i of the hinge, comes in contact with one end of the projection 28 of the hub of the ejector, and 4the continued opening-movement of the breech 'causes the ejector to move with 1t, and the spur n is caused to start the shell, and commence drawing it back out of the chamber, the breech-piece, in this case, acting as a lever on the ejector, and lovercoming any tendency of toward the axis ofthe pin m, and the spring has come to such a position, that while having exerted comparatively little .of its force, it presses against the ejector A far'enough bclow'the axis of the said pin to enable it to act with greatly-increased force, to turn the ejector in the same direction in which the latter has been turned by the action ofthe pin 27, when the said spring suddenly expands, and causes the ejector to turn suddenly, or with'a motion accelerated relatively to that of the pin 27, and causes the spur n to throw out the shell.

f This action is so forcible that a hevelled stud, s, or any suitable inclined ways, or guides provided in the rear part ofthe receiver, to direct the shell upward,` will cause it'to be thrown completely over the recollshoulder' and ont ofthe gun, inv whatever positionthe gun may he held.

lnre'loadng the gun, the ejector isjretm'ned to the position shown in tig. l, by the flange ofthe new carthe spring E is thus .reset for another operation; but, in order to prevent altogether the action of the ejector, or setting of its spring, in case'of closing and opening Vthe breech-piece, when there is .no cartridge, or shell in the gun, and thereby to prevent any unneces- 'sary wear,\or working of the parts, there is provided in 'V -that side of the breech-piece on which the ejector is arranged, a recess, 41, (shown clearly in iig. 11,.an'd in when the breech-piece is closed.

Thespur being always left in the forwardiposition,

by, the opening of the breech-piece, whether there has or has not previouslyv been a cartridge, or shell in the chamber, is allowed, by entering the said recess, to remain in theIl said position during all succeeding'movementsl of the breech-piece, so long as no cartridge is inserted, the` presence of the flanged headV of the cartridge-shell being necessary to set the ejector.

' The ejector D is also madeto' serve as a meansofseeming in place the piu moi' the hinge of the breech. 4

When such pin is screwed into the hinge, or otherwise secured by a screw,there is always danger ofthe screw working loose, and the piu working out. This pin m is made without ajscrew, and turned plain to tit the holes bored `in the parts h h a, of the hinge, for its reception, and the part which is received within the ejector E, is turned slightly'smaller, forming a shallow groove, as shown at 3l, in iig. 3. i

The hole bored in the ejector, for the pin to pass through, is made of the same size as'those in the parts h, It 'i ofthe hinge, that the larger part of the pin may passl through it.

The pressure of the spring E against the ejector, presses it into the groove 31 ofthe pin, and so prevents the pin from moving endwise, and obviates all possibility of its accidental withdrawal, or'slipping out of The pin is inserted into the hinge before the spring -E is putinto its place; and on the removal of the spring, when vit is desired to withdraw the pin, the Withdrawal may easilybe eie'cted.' j o,

What I claim as my invention,'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl- I 1. The attachment of the'hinged breech-.piece to the barrel of a breech-loading lire-arm by a sliding connec tion, operating substantially .as and for (the purpose herein specified.

2. Securing the strap-piece 0,'or its equivalent, to the barrel,by means of a spring-catch, which provides for its easy attachment and detachment, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. The strap-peceG, 'serving the two purposes of attaching the Ihinge-joint of thebreech-piece to the barrel, and as a base for the sight, as herein described.

45A spring, so constructed and` appliedas to serve the two purposes of securing the strap-piece, or plate, which forns the attachment lof the hinge-connectionof the' breech-piece with the barrel, and of a sight-spring, substantially as herein described. V

Providing a passage for the escapeof gas between the said strap-piece and the top of the barrel, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

6. The formation .of olle side of the breech-receiver, whereby the fulcrum-poiut, on which thel swinging breech-piece works as a lever in closing, is brought nearly'to a level with the centre of the bore, substanw tially as illustrated at j, in' iig.6, and herein described.

7. The direct-action, or centrebolt hammer, with a comb at its rear end," in combination with a swinging breech-piece, which opens with an upward and forward movement over the barrel, or breech-receiver, when the said hammer serves also as a means of locking the said breech-piece, suhstalitiallyas herein described,

S. The combination of `longitudinal slot 32, in the centre-bolt hammer, the collar P, inserted into the rear tridgeu being pressed forward against the spur n, and .A

dotted outline in'iig. 1,) for the reception of the spur,

end 'of the Abreech-pin, to serve as a bearing for the main-spring, and the stationary pin 31, passing through the said slot and collar-,for the purpose of securing the said collar, and preventing the turning of the hammer, substantially as herein specified. l Y,

9.' A spring,y s applied, in combination with the ejector of a breech-loading hre-arm that, by the act ot' opening the breech-piece, it iscansed to act alternately above and below the centreot' motion of the ejector, and thereby to restrain the action of the ejector during the first part of the motion ofthe breech-piece, and

afterward 'toproduce its sudden action, substantially as herein described.

sa, 43s

10. The arrangement ofthe ejector-spuug betwefen the barrel and the strap-piece, which attaches the breech-piece thereto, snbstantiallyas herein described.

l1. A recess, 4l, inthe breech-piece, for the recep tionof the spur of the ejector, whereby the latter is rendered inoperative, when there is no cartridge, or cartridgeshell in the {ire-arm, snbstantially as herein 

